


golden hours

by flowersandsunshine



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Golden Age (Narnia), short scenes from a day in the life as a young royal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27141403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersandsunshine/pseuds/flowersandsunshine
Summary: peter, susan, edmund, and lucy have been working to restore narnia for quite a while now, but they finally have a day off. it's time for them to go meet some of the people who live in their country.written for the narnia autumn exchange 2020.
Relationships: Edmund Pevensie & Lucy Pevensie & Peter Pevensie & Susan Pevensie
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	golden hours

“It’s so lovely to all have a free day, all together!” Susan twirled the ends of her hair around her finger. It was so long that it almost hit her waist at this point, and so dark. 

“What should we do today?” Peter asked. He lounged next to the table, an open, bright expression on his face as he looked at his siblings. 

“I’m tired of fighting battles,” Edmund said quietly, leaning into Susan just slightly. She smiled down at him. “We should do something fun.” 

“We could explore Narnia.”

The three siblings turned to look at Lucy. Her face was animated, excited, as she stood up without warning. 

“What do you mean, Lu?” Peter asked after a moment. “We’ve seen basically all there is to see at this point.”

“Yes, but don’t you see?” She grinned, talking with her hands in the way she always did when she was passionate about something. “We’ve seen Narnia as… as warriors and healers and mediators. We’ve seen, but we’ve not looked, and we’ve talked to our subjects, but never made friends. We could… we could go out there and just… We could be good rulers, and meet our people, and get to know our lands, instead of just sitting at the castle like a bunch of stuffy good-for-nothing grownups.” 

Her siblings smiled at that. Lucy, as the youngest, still seemed like the most child-like, even as the others had grown up in their quest to right the wrongs that the White Witch had forced upon the lands. 

“I love it,” Susan said. 

Lucy blinked, surprised, and turned to stare openly at her sister. “You do?” 

She nodded, getting up and walking over to place a gentle hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “That’s a wonderful idea. I have struggled with our lack of involvement with our country, and… I feel as though actually spending time with them would be an incredible thing for us to do. Could you imagine the kings and queens of Earth spending quality time with their subjects in that way?” She laughed, a bright, tinkly sound that made everyone else smile. 

“I’m game,” Peter said, jumping to his feet. “Ed?” 

“I’ll go where Lucy goes,” he said simply, nodding at her. 

Lucy beamed. “Wonderful!” 

“So, Lucy,” Peter said, “where do we start?” 

*** 

“Hello, dear old lamppost,” Lucy murmured, reaching out and touching it gently with her hand. “I do love you so.” 

They stood and looked at it, iron inexplicably in the middle of a forest, remembering a time when the lamppost was the strangest thing they had encountered in Narnia. 

Edmund bit his lip and looked away. 

Susan took his hand and squeezed it gently. 

“Where next?” he asked, looking between Peter and Lucy. 

***

“This is my brother, Mr. Beaver,” Mr. Beaver said. His brother stood next to him, two pairs of dark eyes peering out behind identical faces. All the children felt oddly uncomfortable.

“Oh!” Lucy blinked in surprise. “How do you… keep each other separate?” 

Mr. Beaver (the second) laughed uproariously. “How do we keep each other separate?” he wheezed, turning to his brother. “What a strange question!”

“Are you saying we look similar?” Mr. Beaver (the first) asked, surprise clear on his face. 

Nobody wanted to touch that.

***

“What… what are you?” Lucy asked, feeling more timid than she had in a long while. 

“I am a Marshwiggle, named Buttelbridge,” said the odd creature standing before them. It had a curiously blank look on its face. “It is so lovely to meet you, Queen Lucy.” It bowed. 

“Hello,” Peter said, extending his hand. “What exactly is a Marshwiggle? You’re the first one we’ve met, you see.”

“We live in the marsh.” Buttelbridge gave what seemed to be a faint smile before fading back to the blank look. 

“W-wonderful,” Peter stammered. “Well, it is lovely to meet you, as well.” 

“Thank you.” It just stood there, staring at them. 

“Well, we must be off,” Susan said after a moment. “Thank you for… saying hello.”

“Anytime, kings and queens.” Buttelbridge bowed once more before turning and heading off into the marsh, all legs and arms and no expression on its face whatsoever. 

“Odd creature,” Peter said. 

“I liked it,” Lucy said.

“That doesn’t count,” Edmund said, though his smile was teasing. “You like everyone.”

“I suppose that’s a bad thing?” Lucy asked. 

“Let’s go,” Susan said, almost laughing. “Where to next?” 

***

Lucy gasped as she ate her food, almost choking on it as she sat up straight. 

Peter and Edmund immediately reached for their swords. 

“No, no, I’m fine,” she said, coughing slightly. “But look!”

Her siblings turned and looked. 

Susan gasped and reached for Lucy’s hand instinctively. “A unicorn?” 

“A unicorn.” Lucy’s face was almost glowing as she stared openly through the trees. 

The magnificent creature was white and tall, with a single, perfect horn extending from its forehead. 

“Do you suppose it can talk?” Edmund asked. 

“Only one way to find out,” Peter said, heaving himself to his feet. “Hello, there!” 

“Hello, young royals,” the unicorn said in a deep voice. 

They all beamed at each other and made their way over to make the unicorn’s acquaintance. 

***

The sun was just dipping into the horizon, coloring the edge of the world in a deep gold and bright orange. Lucy reached her hand out. Peter took it, then Edmund took his, and Susan took Edmund’s. The four siblings stood in the middle of the field, staring out across the sea, watching the sun fall off the edge of the world. 

“I had no idea there was so much of this country to explore,” Edmund said, breaking the silence. The world stirred slightly at his words. 

All four children felt a chill at the same time. Magic. 

“And the other countries beyond this one,” Susan said. 

“I wish we had all the time in the world to explore,” Peter said. 

Lucy smiled. 

“Lu?” Susan asked. 

She turned and looked at them. Her face was glowing in the sunset, her smile wide and her eyes luminescent as she looked at her family, who she loved so dearly. “That’s the magical thing,” she said, bold in her next statement, as she was in all things. “We do.” 

They all smiled at each other. 

“Same thing tomorrow?” Edmund asked. 

“Same thing tomorrow,” Peter agreed. 

“There’s so much of this world to see,” Lucy said, turning back to watch the sunset, her voice suddenly, inexplicably, wistful. “I can’t wait to see it all.”

**Author's Note:**

> i miss these kids tbh. 
> 
> anyway. i hope you enjoyed your gift, eysha! <3


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